


the earth beneath my feet

by myeung



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Multi, Niffler, THE NIFFLAH, The Pocahontas AU that nobody asked for, pocahontas au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 14:32:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11150382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myeung/pseuds/myeung
Summary: When Theseus comes home from defending a muggle village from dark wizards, he reports that a number of them made an early getaway.Over in America, however, the trouble is just beginning.





	the earth beneath my feet

**Author's Note:**

> I've fiddled with the timelines; we'll figure them out later. This isn't about discovering Virginia or digging it up. I can reassure that this is after 1793 because York (now Toronto) is already a city in this 'verse.

_Victory is certain_ , Theseus had said. _Our troops will be more than sufficient, little brother. The muggles will never even know there was a battle to begin with._

Theseus was hardly ever wrong, but that didn't keep Newton from wondering if he would make it home in one piece. He tried not to worry--after all, Mother said it only makes you suffer twice, and the negative energy just made his niffler and all of the hippogriffs nervous. He couldn't have that.

Then the village drums sounded.

The garden gnomes scrambled to hide--they didn't like Theseus, he never talked to them--and the mooncalves could be heard _mrrrp_ -ing happily from their burrows. They _did_ like Theseus; Newt warned him to keep the treats to a minimum but, for all his military prowess and love of a good fight, the older Scamander brother could not resist the pleading blue eyes of a mooncalf.

Newt dropped the bag of hippogriff feed and ran for the docks. He wasn't strong like his brother, but he was always the swifter of the two; a mile was a pittance. Before the boats had even reached the shore he was already waving them in. He spotted a familiar mop of Prewett-brown hair.

"Ignatius!" he called, still waving. "Ignatius!"

  
"Peace, young Scamander!" laughed the man, almost too jolly to be a soldier. "Your brother's just coming up to the deck!"

 _Some proud captain_ , Newt thought with a snort, _can't even get his belongings together once the battle's over_. "All his l-limbs, though?"

"All my limbs, little brother, fret not!" came the muffled shout. In less than a minute both brothers had their boots wet as they embraced just off the shore. "Told you I'd come back." Theseus squeezed him in that way he both loved and hated.

"I didn't doubt you!" cried Newt, fighting to keep the tremble out of his voice and off of his bottom lip.

Theseus looked down at him and forced a laugh. He didn't ask after the Lestrange girl, though he clearly wanted to. The brothers had gotten word--her family was of the opinion that the wizards who closed in on the very muggle village they set out to protect should be left well alone, as muggles were of little use to wizardkind anyway. Leta herself had voiced a similar if more conservative thought, but with a contemptuous tone that made Theseus reconsider his little brother's possible betrothal to her.

Mother had exactly the same concerns.

"I understand that young Leta is your friend, dear," she said later, at the dinner table. There was regret in her voice. She had, after all, more or less consented to the possibility of the marriage a few years ago, when her husband was still alive and the Lestranges didn't seem to have much of an opinion on anything here or there.

Newt only ducked his head in that way he had. "It's fine, Mother," he murmured, prying a candlestick from his niffler. He already knew, from the minute those words left Leta's mouth, he could not possibly spend the rest of his life with her. He would sooner marry a muggle, lad or lass; it didn't matter overmuch to him on any level, as long as they respected Mother and Theseus, and were nice to nifflers and Thunderbirds. Leta, it was clear, might not fulfill any of those terms in the long run.

No love lost, really, but a loneliness that he had long come to terms with suddenly made itself brand new to him.

"Newton," prodded their mother gently, "you're not the only one we have to consider here. Though Merlin knows I wish it were so." She got up from her chair and walked over to him. He looked up at her, hoping his father's eyes would speak to her--he had an inkling of what she would say next. "The Lestranges could take care of you."

  
The returned captain whipped his head up from his plate. "But Mother--"

  
"You won't be around forever, either, Theseus," she admonished.

"I was going to say," he began again, wiping his mouth roughly with the back of his hand, "that Newt is perfectly capable of caring for himself."

She only stroked her younger son's curls absently in lieu of a response. She knew it was true, of course. And she also knew that her baby would deny it with his dying breath that he was starved for companionship. The creatures he loved could only fill so much of the void. She looked at him again; he was still silent as he clutched the little black ball of thieving fluff closer to him.

And Newton, for all his oddities, was well-liked in the village. His speed made him an excellent messenger and his quietness was often mistaken, fortunately, for an eagerness to listen. But that was all of him that the other wizards and witches seemed to be willing to explore.

"I'm sorry, Mama, Newt," Theseus said quietly, sounding a little ashamed. "I didn't mean to come home just to start telling people what to do."

  
"Oh, no, darling!" Mother cried, rushing to the head of the table, "It's good practice. For the other villagers."

"It's fine," said Newt again, holding up his niffler with a chuckle, "it's not like I d-don't need it."

"You must have some stories from the battle, though, darling," Mother said encouragingly. "You did say it took longer than expected." Newt nodded along, glad the attention was shifted away from himself again.

"That's right," the older brother said, before reaching for his ale and taking several gulps. "They were easy enough to beat back, though some of us got badly injured. You should have seen Ignatius, Newt, you'd never believe a man that jolly round could move that fast... But we saw that a good number of the other side were making a break for it early on. Old Elphias said something about them heading for the shores, but not our boats. Strangest thing. The battle was over within a week, but the next few days we'd spent looking for the dodgers. Waited for an ambush, just in case they decided to come back. Nothing."

  
"That is strange," Mother said, mostly to herself.

"Elphias thinks they might have Apparated onto different ships we knew nothing about," muttered Theseus, "but speculation's all we've got on that front. Best keep an eye out for a few months, once the troops are in shape again."

"Who could possibly have enough power to Disillusion a ship, let alone a fleet?"

"That's what's so ridiculous. And it's the only way they could have gotten away, or we'd have seen their brooms."

  
"P-perhaps," coughed Newt, "it might have something to do with the d-decline of demiguises in the south."

  
Theseus' eyes sharpened. "Who told you that?"

  
"When we rescued Dougal," Newt said, with more certainty in his voice, "t-the other h-handlers. We still write to each other, and s-sometimes they pass through here on their way n-north to check on the graphorns."

"And they said something about the herds shrinking?"

"Y-yes! They b-botched a raid. They suspect the group came from the northeastern coast. T-the accents were different, n-not even English. At least of the ones they managed to s-stop. We don't know about the rest yet."

Mother's eyes widened; that might have been the longest sentence about people Newton had ever uttered in his life, and therein was distressing information. The little niffler made a small snuffling noise, breaking the heavy silence. Theseus took another swig of ale and hummed.

"I'll talk to Elphias again in the morning; have you told Professor Albus yet?"  
"N-no. Perhaps in the morning a-as well."

"Right, then. Good work, little brother! We might have a case afoot!" Theseus cried, pointing a finger up dramatically. Newt went a deep red and Mother laughed as she called for a house-elf.

Two days later, on the coast of the fledgling city of York, three ships shimmered into view just before midnight.


End file.
